This invention relates generally to endoluminal devices, particularly stents and grafts for placement in an area of a body lumen that has been weakened by damage or disease, such as an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, and more particularly to a stent and a corresponding system for deployment thereof.
Medical devices for placement in a human or other animal body are well known in the art. One class of medical devices comprises endoluminal devices such as stents, stent-grafts, filters, coils, occlusion baskets, valves, and the like. A stent typically is an elongated device used to support an intraluminal wall. In the case of a stenosis, for example, a stent provides an unobstructed conduit through a body lumen in the area of the stenosis. Such a stent may also have a prosthetic graft layer of fabric or covering lining the inside and/or outside thereof. A covered stent is commonly referred to in the art as an intraluminal prosthesis, an endoluminal or endovascular graft (EVG), a stent-graft, or endograft.
An endograft may be used, for example, to treat a vascular aneurysm by removing or reducing the pressure on a weakened part of an artery so as to reduce the risk of rupture. Typically, an endograft is implanted in a blood vessel at the site of a stenosis or aneurysm endoluminally, i.e. by so-called “minimally invasive techniques” in which the endograft, typically restrained in a radially compressed configuration by a sheath, crocheted or knit web, catheter or other means, is delivered by an endograft delivery system or “introducer” to the site where it is required. The introducer may enter the vessel or lumen from an access location outside the body, such as purcutaneously through the patient's skin, or by a “cut down” technique in which the entry vessel or lumen is exposed by minor surgical means.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0138734, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, describes systems and methods for the delivery of stents, endovascular grafts, and the like. FIG. 1 herein illustrates a delivery system 10 of such publication for delivering a variety of expandable intracorporeal devices; for example, an expandable endovascular graft 11. One such expandable endovascular graft 11 useful for delivery and deployment at a desired site within a patient is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,019, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Delivery system 10 in FIG. 1 has an elongate shaft 12 with a proximal section 13, a distal section 14, a proximal end 15 and a distal end 16. The distal section 14 has an elongate belt support member in the form of a guidewire tube 17 disposed adjacent a portion of the expandable endovascular graft 11. A guidewire 18 is disposed within guidewire tube 17. A plurality of belts 21, 22, and 23 are secured to the guidewire tube 17 and are circumferentially disposed about portions of the endovascular graft 11. FIG. 1 shows the belts in a configuration that constrains the endovascular graft 11. First and second release members 24 and 25 releasably secure belts 21, 22, and 23 in a constraining configuration as shown.
As defined herein, the proximal end of the elongate shaft is the end 15 proximal to an operator of the delivery system 10 during use. The distal end of the elongate shaft is the end 16 that enters and extends into the patient's body. The proximal and distal directions for the delivery system 10 and endovascular graft 11 loaded within the delivery system 10 as used herein are the same. This convention is used throughout the specification for the purposes of clarity, although other conventions are commonly used.
Belts 21-23 extend circumferentially about the respective portions of the expandable intracorporeal device 11 and are releasably locked together by one or more release members 24 and 25. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0138734 discloses various belt and release wire configurations that may be utilized to secure stents and the like.
To deploy the graft 11, the release wires 24 and 25 are pulled proximally, in a desired sequence, such that the release wires 24 and 25 disengage from the end loops of the belts 21, 22 and 23. It is desired to provide a system and method to minimize the axial force required on the release wires 24 and 25 to release the belts 21, 22 and 23.